I intended for this Lent to be very meaningful and to think of Christ and His sacrifice every time I was tempted to eat meat, but that didn’t really happen either. I was very conscious of my choices and my reasonings at the beginning of the Lenten season, but as I got used to choosing vegetarian options, this sort of went by the wayside.

However, in terms of sticking with my promise, I think I did very well. In the past 43 days, I have eaten meat twice. Once in an egg roll (pork) and in a few wantons (pork again) in some wanton soup and the other time was a chicken biscuit (chicken. obviously).

Wait, do the egg roll and wantons count as two separate incidences? I’m going to say no.

The Chinese food meat intake happened because a) I was sick, b) they were out of hot and sour soup (how this happened I have no idea), and c) I can’t eat Chinese without ordering an egg roll. It’s un-American. Or is it un-Chinese? Probably un-American.

So that was really an accident. I had a sinus infection and was very medicated and not thinking clearly. So – not my fault. Plus I had a great case of Catholic guilt after which has to count for something.

The chicken biscuit incidence was not a mistake. It was intentional. I was running late for work, I was starving, and dammit, I wanted a freaking chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A! (Side note: Chick-fil-A is the only place where I will eat a chicken biscuit. Whoever says a chicken biscuit is a chicken biscuit is a liar.) So I allowed myself to be even later for work and got my chicken biscuit and some tater tots. (Second side note: Chick-fil-A is also the only place where I will eat tater tots. I’m not weird at all. Not one bit.)

And you know what? That chicken biscuit didn’t taste good. Not at all. I was devastated. Here I had made myself late for work (okay, so not that big of deal), sat in a never ending drive-thru line, paid close to $6.00 for breakfast, and broke my Lenten promise for chicken that tasted bad.

I have no idea if my taste buds were off from not eating meat or if that chicken biscuit really wasn’t great to begin with. Needless to say, one bad experience has not stopped me from craving a chicken biscuit almost every day.

So what have I learned from this experience? I’ve learned:
1. Being a vegetarian is hard. It gets you weird looks, especially in the south. It’s hard to eat out at places with limited options (such as my hospital cafeteria which specializes in chicken wings and hot dogs). And peanut butter and jelly gets really old really fast.
2. Being a vegetarian does not mean weight loss. If anything, I’ve probably gained weight from relying too much on pasta, cheese, and other, wonderful but unhealthy, dairy options.
3. I like tofu. And quinoa. And veggie burgers. Okay, these are all things I’ve eaten before, but I reaffirmed the fact that I like them. I didn’t expand my vegetarian cooking options quite as much as I hoped, but I did try a few new recipes.
4. That I cannot be a vegetarian forever. My waistline can’t handle it and I really like having the option of eating meat when I want to.
5. That giving up something for Lent just for the sake of giving up something doesn’t mean jack if you don’t keep the real reason behind it.

Lent comes to an end on Sunday and I’ve already planned out exactly where I’m going to be eating on Monday. I’m sure I’m going to make myself sick eating meat three times in one day , but I really want a hamburger! And a chicken biscuit.

Did you give up anything for Lent? How did you do? What did you learn?